9 June is Dorinda Day – Celebrating a remarkable woman

Our first Headmistress, Dorinda Neligan was born on 9 June 1833.

So, she would have been 189 this year which even for a woman as remarkable as she undoubtedly was, would have been quite an achievement!

But Miss Neligan was someone who reinvented the norms and challenged expectations and the anniversary of her birth is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our inspirational founder and her legacy.

I have often wondered what Dorinda would have thought about ‘her’ school, if she were somehow able to visit us today. I honestly think she would be extremely proud.

The school she founded  began in a very small way and only 88 pupils were on the roll when Croydon High School opened in September 1874. The numbers increased rapidly (an excellent Admissions and Marketing department clearly) and some six years later 230 pupils moved to purpose-built premises in Wellesley Road, Croydon.

Miss Neligan, was a formidable character. She had served with the Red Cross in France during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 where legend has it, she was left in sole charge of the wounded at Metz. I am sure she would have enjoyed sharing some of her stories with Mrs Bloxsome, whose room also feels like a field hospital sometimes! She remained Head of Croydon High for twenty seven years and after retirement, so incensed at the long delay in giving women the vote, she became a militant suffragette. On one occasion, she protested by refusing to pay her rates and on another she assaulted a policeman but escaped prison presumably because of her age! We know that this sense of justice and equality of opportunity has been passed down through the generations of Croydon High girls – although of course we always stress the importance of operating within the law!

How proud Miss Neligan would have been to witness the campaigning spirit of our Amnesty Groups throughout the years, and their passionate response to issues of equality and human rights. Croydon High was the first school in the local area to educate girls and despite the scandal it caused amongst the gentlefolk of Croydon, Miss Neligan simply would not accept that young women did not deserve the same educational opportunities as their brothers. She not only educated them but she ensured Croydon High was at the forefront of creating opportunities for girls.

In 1885, hitherto almost unheard of for girls, chemistry was introduced to the curriculum. Of course, at the beginning, no practical work was allowed – it was considered far too dangerous! But  in 1902, about a year after Miss Leahy succeeded Miss Neligan as Headmistress, a science demonstration room, forerunner of the laboratories, was built – no doubt instigated by Miss Neligan. One can only imagine her delight at the numbers of Croydon High pupils excelling in the sciences both here and at university and at the opportunities presented by Enterprise Technology and available in our Mac Suite and podcasting room. I would love the opportunity to introduce Miss Neligan to the remarkable pioneering pupils in our Junior School, who are so passionate and so committed to so many important issues, even at such a young age and who see no barriers in what they seek to achieve.

In Dorinda’s school, gender was certainly not allowed to be a barrier even when it came to sport. Although the pupils did not wear a uniform, by 1896 moderately short skirts were allowed for those girls who attended Swedish drill classes. (Even in 1918 the gym mistress was requested to wear a long raincoat over her tunic when moving around the school – I somehow doubt Ms Head and her team would comply with that regulation! )

Everything we know about Miss Neligan tells us that her principles were unwavering and that she was ready, always, to stand up for what is right. I have no doubt that if she were able to be with us today, she would be leading the charge when it comes to promoting and celebrating diversity and inclusion. She would certainly be an active supporter of the GDST’s ‘Undivided’ programme which we follow here at Croydon High and which is striving to address diversity, inclusion and real change, more widely within the education sector. To find out more, please visit the GDST’s website here.

The principles underpinning the GDST’s Undivided Charter for Action is something that all individual schools and indeed, we as individuals within the schools, acknowledge and seek to incorporate into our own lives and interactions.  We are proud to be part of such a forward thinking and reflective organisation.

On Thursday 9 June,  Mrs Pattison led a special assembly where she talked to the Senior School about how we are marking Dorinda Day this year. She reminded them of Miss Neligan’s legacy and the school’s commitment  “… to ensure our school is a place where the individual is celebrated and championed, within a community that offers a safe place to rehearse the challenges of the real world.”  In the Junior School, pupils also discussed the idea of ‘difference’ and what that means to them. To mark Dorinda Day 2022, we will be reflecting upon the journey we have made as a school community and encouraging each other to continue on this path. Each member of the school is being asked to make their own Ivy Pledge; something that will make a difference to their understanding of what it means to be ‘undivided at Croydon High’ to help us on our journey to ensure every pupil has a deep sense of belonging to their school community. Pupils will be encouraged and guided toward appropriate resources to read, listen, watch and discuss. From this, they will identify their own Ivy Pledge which will be displayed as part of our whole school commitment to Dorinda Neligan’s remarkable legacy.

For me personally, I will be considering my own Ivy Pledge of course, but I will also be looking to apply the following mantra to my daily life…WWDD. What would Dorinda do?

I think that will keep me on the right path. To find out more about Croydon High’s own interpretation of Undivided and the journey we are on together, you may like to take a look at our website here.

Happy Dorinda Day.

Mrs Cook

Director of Philanthropy and External Relations

On Wednesday 8^th June the Junior School celebrated World Ocean Day dressed in an array of beautiful blue accessories. We began the day with a Junior assembly, learning about our oceans and how they are all interlinked. We thought carefully about why our oceans are so important and why they need protecting. With the help of some inspirational messages from Sir David Attenborough we identified some ways in which we can contribute to saving our oceans. These included, but were not limited to, using a reusable water bottle and bag, turning off the tap when we brush our teeth, and joining in with community litter picks.

The theme for this years World Ocean Day was ‘Our Blue’. The girls were interested to find out that even though we don’t live very close to an ocean we still rely on it, and we can still help by visiting our local rivers and in our everyday lives. We had a look for the River Wandle in Beddington on a map, one of our closest rivers to the school, and found out how we could help. We ended the assembly with a huge ‘wave’ back to the ocean! The celebrations continued in classes for the rest of the week where girls completed an activity based on our oceans. Year 1 had the pleasure of joining in with a live rock pooling session on Wednesday morning and ended the day creating ‘sea creature riddles’. We wonder if you can guess what some of them are…

I live in the midnight zone.

I have big teeth.

I have a light on my head.

What am I?

(Maxie)

I can sting.

I stay in one place.

I am a home for a clownfish.

What am I?

(Sara)

I have a shell.

I have four flippers.

I travel a long way.

What am I?

(Annabelle)

I eat a lot of food in one day.

I shoot my babies from my pouch.

I am little.

What am I?

(Riya)

Croydon High was blessed to host 17 local Year 5 girls, as part of our partnership with the Rowdown Foundation, for two afternoons this week for a Drama and Music workshop. The plan was to prepare and perform a musical number from the West End Musical, ‘Matilda’. This is a big ask for such young performers in such a short amount of time, but they rose to the challenge!

Initially, they were quite quiet and nervous about singing and learning choreography, but they were determined! They learnt so much during the first afternoon and we were extremely impressed when they came back in on the second afternoon telling us that they had been rehearsing all evening and during their break and lunchtimes at their own schools! We spent the second afternoon finishing the choreography, sorting out any issues with the song and rehearsing in the performance space (with full stage lighting!).

The girls were so excited to show their parents what they had achieved, and they performed it beautifully, with lots of energy and characterisation. The audience of parents, relatives and friends loved it!

We are really proud of what they achieved in such a short time!

Mrs Grimshaw

Head of Drama

We were privileged and deeply moved to hear the story of Antoinette Mushimiyimana at Croydon High on Thursday 26th May. As part of her work with the Ishami Foundation, Antoinette shared her personal story with Year 9 and 10 about her experiences in the Genocide Against the Tutsi in 1994. Her close family were brutally murdered, including her mother, two young brothers and auntie, alongside around one million other Tutsi and Hutu people in Rwanda in 100 days of extraordinary violence. In addition to her harrowing time as a 12 year-old-girl, hiding from those who wished to kill her, she also spoke of her journey to forgiveness and to give a message of reconciliation and compassion.  She spoke of how she chose to enter the world of forgiveness over that of hate, even going as far as to meet her uncle in prison, who was sentenced for murdering her Tutsi aunt – his own wife.

Her work with the Ishami Foundation has been to “engage, share our forgiveness and reconciliation stories with those we meet and see broken relationships restored”. We would highly recommend you find time to learn more about their testimonies at their website ishamifoundation.org/

The words ‘Never Again’ were spoken after the Holocaust, but sadly genocides have occurred since and continue to happen throughout the world today. Year 9 have been considering the similarities and differences between the Holocaust and the Genocide Against the Tutsi and it reminds us that the processes are all the same, regardless of time and place. As soon as we create separateness and ‘otherness’, finding divisions rather than focusing on our common humanity, then genocides can happen. This is particularly why Antoinette’s story was so inspiring. She not only spoke of forgiveness but the importance of diversity and respect for all, regardless of our views and beliefs.

She left us with these inspiring words:

“Engage with a beautiful future and stand where brokenness meets hope”

Ms Fenwick

Head of History

In April, our budding mathematicians from Year 7 and Year 8 took part in the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge! It is an hour-long competition which encourages mathematical reasoning, to solve interesting problems. Students from across the UK take part in it.

Our students put their extraordinary brain power to the test and tackled the tricky questions. They have done well, and we are super proud of them. A massive well done to Charlotte, Farrah and, Erin in Year 8 as well as Arwa and Anaiya in Year 7 who achieved a gold certificate! Here are some of the girls with their certificates.

Miss Ahmad

Maths Teacher

TEDx@CroydonHigh

On 25th of May, 5 girls from Years 10-Lower Sixth 2 performed brilliant speeches at a TEDx event held by one of the head girls, Yasmin.

TEDx is an independently organised TED event. A suite of thought-provoking talks that are idea-focused and cover a wide range of subjects to foster learning, inspiration, and wonder.

The theme was ‘exploring our thoughts’ which was purposely made to be broad in order to allow the students to use their imagination and passions to create an entertaining talk. We had talks ranging from the medical field to the literature field.

The event started with Deveshi A who entertained us with how ‘Media Distorts Mental Health in A Truly Shocking Way!’ The stigma surrounding mental health is far from pretty, but the representation in books, television, and media help to raise awareness and educate the young, old and everyone in between, even if they are not aware of it. In her talk she discusses, with great examples, if mental health is portrayed in the media in a negative or positive manner.

Next, Shayana R reminded us: ‘Don’t Leave Creativity Behind’. This is a speech about the importance of finding your connection to creativity even when the pressures of work feel like they’re too much to bear – whether this be a story, a drawing, a game, a song – whatever you imagine it to be. Most importantly it is also a message regarding the value of our imagination and allowing oneself to realise how important it is to have fun!

Varjitha K then took stage to deliver her exploration of the tragic medical case study on Jack Adcock, whose doctor, Hadiza Bawa-Garba, was found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of gross negligence. However, her story was not as straightforward as one might think. This thought provoking speech was a further reminder of the importance of supporting and caring for our junior doctors, and the need to look closely at cause and effect rather than instantly jumping to foregone conclusions.

Our penultimate speaker was Tara K with her intellectual mathematical speech. She explored the vital yet simple techniques that can reframe our teaching of mathematics with the questions: ‘how can we make mathematics more accessible to more students?’ and ‘how can we foster mathematical creativity and make the subject more fascinating for all?’ being answered. This speech was an eye-opener to those who shiver at the thought of maths, to help them realise that the subject is not as bad as it seems!

Lastly, we had the wonderful Ashwini R delivering her speech, ‘The Heavy Flow of Stigmas Against Periods’. This was an informative speech on the intricacies of periods with the hope of breaking down the stigmas associated with it. Using humour, Ashwini successfully made the audience more comfortable with words such as ‘blood’ and ‘cramps’ which ended the event in a witty and light-hearted tone.

All the speakers presented with confidence and maturity; a member of the audience gave well earned praise but saying that all performed competently at the level of a post-graduate student. This was a challenging and stressful event to lead but with the team being so wonderful and easy going, this event was altogether a huge success!

Yasmin I, Lower Sixth